lethal | hs

/62/

not much action again, so i'm sorry. this chapter sets up a lot for the future, though, so pls stick with me.

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Molly Pierce

"An invitation?" I furrow my brow, looking down at the small rectangular envelope in my hand.

"My birthday party, a week from today," Brooks jumps right to the point.

I open the invitation, surveying its appearance. It's a little, fancy piece of paper. The invitation is neatly designed and centered in the middle of it is his name. The invite includes a location, date, and time. May 11th, which is the date of his actual birthday, at my house.

"Who made these?" I question, wildly surprised at the neatness and perfection of the invite.

"I did," he huffs proudly, sliding a second invitation into my hand. "Give one to Harry, too. I know he isn't exactly welcome here, but I can sneak him in."

"Brooks, we might be out of town for your birthday," I sigh. Today's the day that we're all planning on leaving. I still have to drive by Lethal's and make sure our trip is all set, but at this point, I've already packed everything up.

"What?" His face drops. I just explained to him that we're going to Harry's old town, and he's agreed to watch Taz, but I never told him how long we'd be gone for. "You can't. You have to be here, Molly. I'm going all out this year."

I bite my tongue, "You're right, I'll try my best. If we find what we're looking for, we'll be back in time for your birthday. I'll have a gift for you, no matter what. Just worry about taking care of Taz while we're gone, that's all I ask."

"I will, but I have a lot of other things to figure out, too," he frowns, sliding up into one of the seats at our kitchen island. "Like... I'm trying to find a catering service for the party, buy decorations, bake dessert, and everything else."

I wish I could help him, because I know that my parents won't. Planning out an entire birthday party by himself is a lot to do, especially when it's his own. Their busy schedule may even prevent them from attending the party, but I don't think Brooks realizes that yet.

"Are you inviting Sean?" I ask. Since Sean lives on the other side of town, I don't know how Brooks is going to manage to get him here without receiving weird stares from other guests.

"I want to," he rubs his neck. "I'll just say he's a school friend. They'll get over it eventually."

"Well, if you need anything, let me know," I offer, picking up my heavy bag from the ground. "I may be out of town, but I still want to help."

"It's alright. You have more important things to do," he shakes his head. I'm glad that when I explained to him where I'm headed, he understood completely. "I'll have plenty of birthdays in the future. You can help with those."

"Are you sure?" I raise an eyebrow.

At this point, for the past couple of weeks, I've been away from my house constantly. My parents, if they have even noticed, haven't confronted me about my whereabouts any longer. That's why I'm taking a risk, and just leaving. I'm not going to come up with any type of excuse, because I trust Brooks to cover for me.

I just hope I'm not putting too much pressure on him.

"Yeah. Just as long as you and Harry try to make it to the party, I'll be fine. Don't worry about helping," he stands up from the chair. He leads me over to the door, stringing a playful grin across his lips, "Now get out of here. You've got things to do."

"Okay, okay. I'll see you later," I smile back, before remembering, "Oh, and if you need a place that bakes good cakes, there's one a couple of blocks away. I can give you the address-"